Dear Vegata
by BulmaB69
Summary: The touching tale of a young soldier, a college girl,and a star- crossed love..B/V
1. prologue

**Prologue**

What does it mean to truly love another?

There was a time in my life when I thought I knew the answer: It meant that I'd care for Bulma more deeply than I cared for myself and that we'd spend the rest of our lives together. It wouldn't have taken much. She once told me that the key to happiness was achievable dreams, and hers were nothing out of the ordinary. Marriage, family... the basics. It meant I'd have a steady job, the house with the white picket fence,ans a minivan or SUV big enough to haul our kids to soccer practice or piano recitals. Two or three kids, she was never clear on that, but my hunch is that when the time came,she would have suggested that me let nature take its course and allow god to make the decision. She was like that religious, I mean and I suppose that was part of the reason I fell for her. But no matter what was going on in our lives, I could imagine lying beside her in bed at the end of the day, holding her while we talked and laughed, lost in each others arms. It doesn't sound so far-fetched, right? That's what I thought,too. And while part of me still wants to believe it's possible, I know it's not going to happen. When I leave here again, I'll never come back.

For now,though, I'll sit on this North Carolina hillside overlooking her ranch and wait for her to appear. She won't be ale to see me, of course. In the army, you learn to blend into your surroundings, and I learned well, because I had no desire to die in some backward foreign dump in the middle of the Iraqi desert. Bulma will never know I've been here today.

Part or me aches at the thought of her being so close yet so untouchable, but her story and mine are different now. It wasn't easy for me to accept this simple truth, Because there was a time when our stories were the same, but that was six years and two lifetimes ago. And I've been burdened by questions I've asked myself a thousand times since the last time we were together. Why did i do it? And would i do it again? It was I, you see, who ended it.

When I first met Bulma Brief, I could never have predicted my life would turn out the way it has. That's the things that makes my current life so strange. I fell in love with her when we were together, then fell deeper in love with her in the years we were apart. I reflect on these things, and as always, I find myself remembering how it began, for now these memories are all I have left.

_**Review**_


	2. ONE

**One**

My Name is Vegeta. I was born in 1977, and I grew up in wilmington, North Carolina. The city is located on a relatively thin spit of land bounded by the Cape Fear River on one side and the ocean on the other. Highway 17 which leads to Myrtle Beach and Charleston is its major road. When I was a kid, my dad and I could drive from the historic district near the Cape Fear River to Wrightsville Beach in ten minutes, but so many stoplights and shopping centers have been added that it can now take hours,especially on the weekends, when the tourists come flooding in.

Like all cities, wilmington is rich in places and poor in others, and since my dad hade one of the steadiest, solid citizen jobs on the planet he drove a mail delivery route for the post office we did okay. Our house was old and small; part of the porch had begun to sag,but the yard was its saving grace. There was big oak tree in the backyard, and when I was eight years old, I built a tree house with scraps of wood . My dad didnt help me with the project; it was the same summer i taught myself to surf.

My Dad and I were as different as two people could possibly be. Where he was passive and introspective, I was always in motion and hated to be alone; while he placed a high value on education,school for me was like a social club with sports added in. I was taller than him by the time I was in eighth grade and could beat him in arm wrestling a year later. Our physical feature were the same. I had black hair and eyes,and my tan skin would. My dad raised me by himself. As I grew older, I somethimes heard whispering about the fact that my mom had run off when I was less than a year old. Though I later suspected my mom had met someone eles,my dad never comfirmed this. All he'd say was that she'd married too young and wasn't ready to be a mother.

It was early June, the temperature was already hot, the water was refreshing and, and i spent the afternoon lost in my own little world. I thought about paying a visit to leroy's but figured that nothing or no one had changed except for me. instead, I grabbed a bottle of beer from the corner store and went to sit on the pier to enjoy the sunset. I wasn't thinking about much of any thing, just sort of letting my mind wander.

That was when i saw her walking up the pier. Or rather, two of them walking. One was tall and black hair, the other an attractive blue haired, both a little younger then me. College students, most likely. Both wore shorts and halters,and the blue haired women was carrying a big knit bag.

"Hey," I called out when they were close. Not very smooth, and I can't say I expected anything in responce.

The black haired women took one glimpse at my surfboard and beer and ignorned me. The blue haired women however, surprised me.

"Hiya, Stranger," she answerd with a smile. She motioned towards my board."I'll bet the waves were great today."

Her comment caught me off guard, and I heard an unexpected kindness in her words. I found myself watching her as she and her friend continued down the pier and leaned over the railing. I debated whether or not I should stroll over and introduce myself, but they weren't my type, or more accurately, I probably wasnt theirs.

Try as i might, though, I couldn't stop my gaze from drifting back to the blue haired women. The black haired women was talking endlessly about some guy named Goku and how much she loved him, and how her sorority was the est at UNC, and the party they had at the end of the year was the est ever. The blue haired women didn't say much, but every now and then she would laugh, and I heard something friendly and understanding in her voice. As I set aside my bottle of beer, I noticed that she'd placed her bag on the railing

They had been standing there for ten minutes or so before two guys started up the pier frat guys, I guessed wearing pink and orange Lacoste shirts over their knee-length Bermuda shorts. My first thought was that one of them must be the Goku that the black haired hade been talking about. Both carried beers, and they grew furtive as they approached. As soon as they were close, they jumped at the girls with a yell; both girls shrieked and did a friendly slap-on-the-arm thing. He leaned against the railing, near the bag,one leg over the other, his arms behind him

"Hey, We're going to be starting the bonfire in a couple of minutes," orange shirt said, putting his arm around the black haired women. He kissed her neck. "You two ready to come back?"

"You ready?" the black haired women asked, looking at her friend.

"Sure," the blued haired women anawered.

Pink shirt pushed back from the railing but somehow his hand must have hit the bag because it tumbled over the edge

"My Bag!" the blue haired women gasped."My purse was in there!"

"Sorry about that," he said, not sounding particularly sorry.

"You've got to get it before it sinks!"

The frat brothers seemed frozen, and I knew neither of them had any intention of jumping in to get it. For one thing, they'd probably never find it, and then they'd have to swim all way back to shore, something that wasn't recommended when one had been drinking, as they obviously had been.

"Don't be dumb. It's gone," pink shirt declared, putting his hand on her to stop her.

"It's too dangerous to jump. There might be sharks down there."

It wasn't any of my business,I knew. But all I could think as I leapt to my feet and rushed toward the edge of the pier was,Oh, what the hell...


	3. TWO

**TWO**

It took a minute to locate the bag in the deepening twlight. I held the bag above the water as best I could, and the surge of the ocean made the swim back to shore less difficult then I'd feared. Looking up, I saw the four people following along with me.

I felt bottom and trudged out of the surf. I shook the water from my hair, started up the sand, and met them halfway up the beach. I held out the bag. "Here you go."

"Thank you," the blue haired women said, and when her met min, I felt something click, like a key turning in a lock. Believe me, I'm no romanric, and while I've never believed in it, and I still don't. But even so there was something there, something reconizably real, and I couldn't look away

Up close, she was more beauitful than I'd first realized, but it had less to do with the way she looked than the way she was. It was the casual way she swiped at a loose strand of hair, the easy way she held herself.

"You didn't have to do that," she said with something like wonder in her voice. "I would have gotten it."

"I know.I saw you getting ready to jump."

She tilted her head to the side. "But you felt an uncontrollable need to help a lady in distress?"

"Something like that."

"Thank you again," she said

"No big deal," i mumbled, but i didn't move.

"Are you in the marines?"

I shook my head. "I'm not one of the few or the proud. I wanted to be all that i could be, so i joined the army."

The blue haired women laughed. "I'm Bulma ," she said. "Bulma Brief. and these are yamcha,Goku and chi-chi.' she held out her hand.

"I'm Vegeta," I said.

"Have you eaten?" she asked. "We're getting ready to have a cookpout, and there's plenty to go around."

Bulma smiled at me with such warmth that the words were out before I could stop them. "Sounds good. Let me go grab my board from the pier, and I'll be there in a it."

Over her shoulder, the house seemed to be coming to life in the darkness. More people had materialized, the music had been turned up, and every now and then I could hear ,Chi-Chi, and Yamcha were already surrounded by a group of coeds drinking beer

"We dont start untill Monday. They'll find out soon enough that it's not all fun and games."

"You've done this before?"

"Every summer since i was sixteen."

I nodded, conscious of how close together we were walking. 'And you Graduated too?"

"No, I'll be a senior. And I'm majoring on speacial education."

"Everyone asks me if i like being in the army."

"Do you?"

"I don't know"

She laughed, and the sound was so melodic that I knew i wanted to hear it again. We reached the end of the pier, and i grabbed my board. "How old are you?" I asked as we approached the house

'Twenty-one, and you?"

"Twenty-three"

"You're good. I was watching you earlier. You made it look so easy,Graceful even. it made me wish I knew How."

"I'd be happy to teach you if you want to learn." I volunteered. "It's not that hard. I'll be out tomorrow

On the sand out front, a fire was ser into a pit. Bulma and I took a seat by the dune, facing the fire. They talked for awhile getting to now each uther better.

"I should probably get going so i can visit my dad for awhile. He's probably wondering where I am at."

"Do you want to call him? You can use the phone."

"No i think I'll just head out. It's a long walk."

"You don't have a car?"

"No. i hitched a ride this morning."

"Do you want me to drive you home? You said it was a long walk, right?"

"Yeah I did bu-

"No problem at all."she assured me."my truck's out front. You can put your board in the back. I'll be back with the keys. After a quiet drive to his house.

I turned back to Bulma."It was nice meeting you."

"You too.I've never hung out with a solider before. I felt sort of ...protected

"Maybe I'll see you around.'

"You know where I'll be. But i am disappinted that you forgot,"she added

"forgot what?"

"Didnt you say that you'd teach me how to surf?"

"Thanks for the ride," I said, opening my door

"No problem," she leaned over the seat."And listen, feel free to stop by the house anytime."

**THE END**

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	4. THREE

**Chapter Three**

"Surfing teaches you to flow with nature, instead of fighting it. There's nothing quite as exciting as cathing a wave and living within a wall of water as it rolls toward shore. For me, it's about the fact that the world is crazy noisy almost all the time, and when you're out there, it's not. You're able to hear yourself think"

This is what I was telling Bulma as we made our way toward the ocean early Sunday morning. For the most part, I was just dort of rambling,trying not to be too obvious about the fact that I really liked the way she looked in a bikini.

"Like horseback riding," she said

"Huh?"

"Hearing yourself think. That's why I like riding, too."

It was one of those clear, blue-sky days. Despite the hour, the air was already warm. We spent a few minutes near the water's edge goingover the basics of surfing. When Bulma thought she was ready I waded in carrying the board, walking beside her.

There were a few surfers out, and I was trying to figure out the best place to bring Bulma so she'd have enough room when I realized I could no longer see her.

"Hold on, hold on!" she shouted from behind me. "Stop."

I turned. Bulma was on her tiptoes as the first splashes of the water hit her belly, and upper body was immediately covered in gooseflesh. She appeared to be trying to lift herself from the water.

"Let me get used to this ..." He gave a few quick, audible gasps and crossed her arms. "Wow. This is really Cow!"

Holy cow? It wasn't exactly something my buddies would say. "You'll het used to it," I said, smirking.

"I don't like being cold. I hate being cold."

She took another tiny step forward.

"It works best if you just jump right in and go under instead of torturning yourself in stages," I suggested

"You do it your way, I'll do it mine," she said. Uncrossing her arms, she took a seried of breaths, then dipped maybe an inch. "Okay, I think I'm getting there."

"Don't rush for me. Really. Take your time."

"I will,thank you," she said, ignoring the teasing tone.

"Now what?"

"Paddle hard, grab the board on both sides near the front, then pop up to your feet. It's kind of tough at first. If you fall, just roll with it. It usually takes a few times to get it."

"Okay," she said

"Get ready..." I said, timing it. "Okay, Start paddling..."

As the wave hit us, I pushed the board, giving it some momentum, and Bulma caught the wave . I don't know what i expected that it wasn't to see her pop stright up, keep her balance, and ride the wave all the way back to shore. In the shallow water, she jumped off the board and tured with dramatic flair toward me.

"How was that?" she called out.

Despite the distance between us, I couldn't look away. Oh man, I suddenly thought, I'm in real trouble

"I did gymnastics for years," she admittied. "I've always had a good sense of balance.

We spent more than an hour in the water. she popped up every time and rode the waves to shore with ease.

Afterward we returned to the house. Bulma west upstairs. She emerged a couple of minutes later in shorts and a T-shirts, Holding two cups of coffee. She sat beside me on the steps as we faced the water.

"Did you know that last night was the first night of the full moon?"

"Really?" I said

"I've always loved full moons. Ever since I was a kid.

"What's on your agenda today?" I asked

"We're supposed to have a meeting sometime today, but other than that, nothing.

"Do you want to go with me or not?" she said.

"sure." I said

"Good." she patted my knee.

In the end, the service wasn't that bad.

Everyone was up by the time we got. some were lounging on the upper deck, people were every where

"Hey there," Bulma said. she'd donned her bikinni again

"Hi there" I said. trying not to look at her.

"I need a drink. Do you want something?"

"Water's fine."

She bent over to grab a couple of bottles.

"After this, you want to go surfing again?" she said

How can i say no.

"Sure" I said

"Great" she said Bulma walked to him and leaned forward and softly put her lips to mine

She turned and walked outside I was left to wonder what was the kiss for

The end to chapter 3 more will be on the way


End file.
